The New York Times has taken investigative reporting to new heights, or rather, depths. Reporter Anemona Hartocollis went out to New York underground, after-hours sex club Paddles — “the friendly S&M club” — with Dr. Demetre Daskalakis as he administered meningitis vaccines.
Cavorting with go-go boys “flashing their rock-hard backsides” and half- (and then some) naked revelers in the wee hours of the morning, The Times brings to light an unconventional but effective way of combating the mysterious outbreak among NYC’s “men who have sex with men” community:
Most of the men have checked their shirts at the door. Some have checked their pants. Conditions for injection could hardly be better. Before Lady Gaga can stutter out “Pa-pa-pa-poker face, pa-pa-poker face,” Dr. Daskalakis stabs them in the arm with a needle, applies a Band-Aid and sends them on their way. All over Paddles, men are happily sucking on the lollipops he is handing out as a reward.[…]
Knowing that Dr. Daskalakis has entree where government apparatchiks do not, the city supplies him with free vaccine. A week ago, he vaccinated men at a house party in Brooklyn, in a location he did not want to be disclosed, where the host set the mood by dressing in drag as a platinum-blond nurse. “The department of health loves that we’re here — loves, loves, loves,” he says, at Paddles.
Dr. D vaccinated some 700 people that day and as of May 13, the number of vaccinations has reached 10,200. But with Gay Pride season on the horizon, health officials warn that we’re not out of the woods quite yet.
“We have our fingers crossed,” said Dr. Jay Varma, the city’s deputy health commissioner for disease control. “One of the reasons we can’t be 100 percent confident is that there are a number of Gay Pride events coming up, where there are a lot of people coming into the city, a lot of people interacting together, so we want to get through that period before we are really celebrating controlling it.”
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Caine
kudos to the new york times for reaching out and being smart to provide these vaccines in a location where the men would come to them and already be there…
i live in NYC and yes after months of all the fear mongering i did get the meningitis vaccine and while i could have gotten it for free i doled out $150 to get it from my doctor…
but seriously – just to play devil’s advocate here
the last NYC case unless i am mistaken was in Sept 2012 8 months ago right?
or am i wrong?
cos i have posted here about this before and i will say again
– there is something VERY suspicious about this epidemic that doesn’t actually seem like an epidemic.
a handful of guys get meningitis and the result is hundreds of thousands get vaccinated?
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Serious Callers Only
@Caine: there were an additional 6 cases between September and December 2012. 2013 saw 4 cases since January.
(Source: the March 6 NYC Department of Health Press Release # 006-13)
tardis
This is somewhat of an insane story. First and foremost, it highlights that lack of self-help that society has skyrocketed to. It’s kind of alarming. Secondly, it’s pretty admirable that this medical professional has taken initiative to reach out an affected area. Thirdly, I wonder why these efforts are not being applied to heterosexuals?
Caine
@Serious Callers Only: OK then I stand corrected. I thought there had been nothing since September.
the other Greg
But if meningitis is controlled, what will all the gay, married Church Lady types do here on Queerty comments? They won’t have any “sluts” to feel superior to or wish death upon! 🙂
@tardis: I’m perplexed by your comment – what do you mean by “self-help,” you want them to inject themselves with vaccine??? Seriously, your comment is quite mystifying.
My impression is that the meningitis situation is not THAT well known, so probably a lot of guys at places like this really haven’t heard anything about it yet, until the health workers inform them.
viveutvivas
@tardis, because the outbreak has been largely confined to MSM.
wakeupscreaming
I’m not going to ‘slut shame’, but it takes a certain amount of stupidity, carelessness and risk to continue a behavior that heightens the chance of contracting a virus or infection.
Maybe with the free vaccine, there can be a free lecture on self control for these guys?
the other Greg
@wakeupscreaming: Wow, that’s not “slut shaming,” not at all! Why don’t you tell us what you REALLY think!
Your boyfriend must be one lucky guy. Considering your screen name “wakeupscreaming,” does he have earplugs or does he sleep down the hall?
Caine
@wakeupscreaming: especially considering that meningitis is not strictly contracted through sexual activity. they could just as well get it from a non sexual encounter.
Deepdow
@wakeupscreaming:
If anything, considering the amount of homophobia and general gay stigma gay men face, we’re the ones with the self-control. I always find it amusing when that charge is thrown our way.
tardis
@the other Greg:
No, that’s not what I meant. I’m talking about people that actively seek out instead of waiting around for stuff to happen. 700 people is a lot of people. Just an observation. Not really a criticism.
viveutvivas
@tardis, I agree with you. I find it strange, for example, how few gay men proactively get the HPV vaccine as well. You would think the advantage of avoiding genital warts would be worth the couple of hundred bucks they have to pay for it, but no.
technicolornina
Just a note for the folks going “then don’t have sex!!!” I have news for you. There was a meningitis outbreak on my college campus the year before I started there. Funnily enough, it was restricted to three girls on a single floor of a single dormitory, all of whom shared the same bathroom. Two of them had boyfriends. Now, I wonder why the boyfriends never got meningitis? It certainly couldn’t be because meningitis is caused by CLOSE CONTACT OF ANY KIND WITH OTHER SICK PEOPLE, which is why the #1 place to contract it is when you’re in the hospital. Not at all.
Grow up and get your heads out of your slut-shaming asses. Yes, it’s true that spending long, sweaty hours in a tightly-packed club is a great breeding ground (moisture, dark, and my guess is a lot of these guys go home and sack out for a few hours instead of immediately jumping into the shower–that’s basically virus heaven right there), but guess what: THIS COULD AS EASILY BE A STORY ABOUT STRAIGHT PEOPLE. Straight people also go to clubs that fit that description. Straight people also have sex in clubs that fit that description.
It’s a CONTACT DISEASE. Just like MRSA, just like pneumonia, just like the common cold. Not caused by sex. Enough.
Brian
Meningitis is not an STD. The New York Times needs to stop treating it as such. Its article is sensationalist crap and borderline homophobic.
Maybe the New York Times and its intrepid journalists should visit a brothel where promiscuous women put out for hundreds of men per year.
viveutvivas
@Brian, your comparison of a consensual sex-positive club with a brothel is what is homophobic.